Shakti plays with QiGong!

What is Shakti? She is the creative and vital energy of the Universe. She flows like moving water that encounters no obstacles. Why not? She flows around them and continues her journey, following the openings that reveal themselves. Often these openings take her, and us, in completely new directions! One door closes, yet another opens. I know this has been true many times in my life. Is this true in yours?

Shakti has her own mysterious and delightful ways of moving through the world and through our lives. I just try to do my best to listen. So far she has taken me on some wonderful journeys that have always proven to be enriching, expansive, revelatory and healing. She has led me into dance, yoga, Tarot, QiGong and time with horses.

These days, I play QiGong daily, and like to experiment with how it blends with yoga. My conclusion is that they complement and enrich one another beautifully.

Qi is another name for our vital energy, in the same way that as Shakti and Prana are. When we are in the pink of health, this energy is juicy and abundant. Gong means cultivation. The shaking, tapping and cupping of QiGong wakes up circulation and awareness of all body parts, which makes all yoga poses sing. Positive visualization is synchronized with rhythmic breathing and simple movements, promoting healthy self-reflection and an opportunity to brush away old habituated ways of thinking and moving. New possibilities emerge. Health and wellness flourish. Eyes sparkle and there is a spring in one’s step. Joy grows.

When people ask me “what is QiGong?”, my simple and direct answer is to say it’s “Chinese Yoga”. They’re both about cultivating harmony in breath, mind and movement. They’re both about self-empowerment and wholeness, and they offer us a recipe for vibrant health inside and out.